Hollywood Heat And More
by LittleLizzieZentara
Summary: I've decided to do a collection of short stories and possible one-shots for the Castle 2013 Ficathon. Possible spoilers for all episodes. First up-'The Ridiculous Idea.' Did Kate seem OOC to anyone else in the last 3 episodes of season 5? Well, there's a reason for that. And it's not what you'd think...
1. Chapter 1

**Wow. 50,000 words. I'm not sure I'm ready for this… **

**(There will be a longer A/N at the end; it wouldn't make sense if I put it here.)**

**Purplangel requested that I let everyone know which episodes will be used in each chapter of this collection. In this one I use 'Still.' And, because of the very nature of that episode, other ones are referenced, particularly 'Knockdown.' This additional note (and the spelling correction of a name in the longer A/N) is the only change I've made in this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: Nope, don't own it. I'm just spending my summer writing and trying to trust that AM knows what he's doing. Trying REALLY hard. No sunny beaches for me.**

* * *

"Detective Beckett." The man's tone was solemn with a hint of apology.

"Ten minutes, I know."

Kate had thought they would have more time. It was only in the last hour, no, the last twenty minutes, that she realized she wasn't going to make it out of this one. The last time she'd felt that certainty of impending death had been while hanging from a roof, her fingers slowly slipping from the edge. But there was nothing Ryan, the one who had caught her just before she plunged to her death, could do this time. There was nothing anyone could do. "It's okay, Captain," she assured the man. "You did everything you could."

"We are not giving up. There'll be guys down there working on this until the last possible moment." Regret lined his features. "But I have to withdraw everybody else. And that includes you, Castle."

Kate recognized the look in Castle's eyes. Her heart broke for him. She knew how difficult it was going to be for him to walk away. It was selfish of her; she wouldn't be able to do it if the situation were reversed. But the only way she was going to be able to get through this was if she knew he was safe.

"Could I just-" A lump of suppressed tears formed in her throat. With sheer determination she forced it down. If she was going to fall apart, if her calm was going to shatter, it would be after Castle left the room. "Could I have a moment alone with him, please?"

"Of course."

He knew. Castle knew what she was going to ask of him. He had the same look on his face when he had told her "I'm not going to leave you alone" when Scott Dunn had been determined to kill 'Nikki Heat.' His eyes begged her not to ask it of him.

She had to.

"It's time to say good-bye."

"I'm not leaving."

And he wouldn't. Kate knew that. Not unless she made him. Considering she could barely move without setting off the bomb, she was going to have to use something other than physical force.

"Castle, you promised that you would help me with something when the time came." A deathbed promise; although 'deathbed' was figurative, Kate hoped he would honor it. "This is it."

"Beckett, no."

The slight tremble in his voice made her determination, and her hard-won calm, waver for a brief instant. "Please, Castle. Please don't make this any harder than it needs to be."

"I wish I could-kiss you." Tears misted in his eyes as his hands shook with the need to reach out

for her. "I wish…so many things."

"No, there's no regrets." Regrets had almost swallowed Kate whole after her mother was

murdered. She didn't want that to happen to Castle. As for her, she had no regrets. She'd gotten to spend the last five years with the man she loved.

It was enough. It had to be.

"All in all, I think we've had a great run," she said, attempting to keep her voice light.

Kate had heard the term 'time froze.' This was the first time she'd ever experienced it. His gaze locked with hers, telling her everything he didn't have the time to voice. "You should go," she finally whispered. The most difficult thing she had ever had to do.

Relief warred with a sudden gut-wrenching pain. She was going to die. And she'd never told him she loved him. She'd shown him in countless ways over the last eleven months. But she hadn't spoken the words. Now all the reasons for waiting seemed pointless.

"Rick." Kate was surprised at the steadiness of her voice even as the tears she'd been holding back started a small, slow trek down her cheeks. Emotions flooded her with each small syllable as she whispered, "I love you."

"I love you, too."

Once again their gazes locked, speaking without words as they had done so often. But finally he turned.

She would have said the word out loud but her voice had deserted her.

_Always._

* * *

Kate didn't know how much time had passed. Didn't want to know. Her eyes were closed so she wouldn't accidently look at the glowing numbers. She had already had one experience watching the seconds tick by before a bomb exploded and she had no intention of repeating it.

Memories of Castle had filled her mind. She wanted her last thought to be of him and focusing on her partner kept her fear manageable. She was brave, but she was also human. No amount of acceptance could completely drive away her fear of the unknown; worse, an unknown she had no control over.

She'd just run through all of the times he'd told her 'Always.' The first time stuck in her mind-outside of the warehouse where they had just rescued Ryan and Esposito, in the back of an ambulance, her re-wrapping his injured hand. A hand he had injured showing her what 'Always' really meant. A hand that had been so firm yet gentle as he kissed her for the first time.

Which had gotten her to thinking of all the times they had kissed…

This was it. This was what she wanted to be thinking about when she left this world.

When she left him.

No! She couldn't think about that.

The kisses. She needed to focus on the kisses.

Starting with-

"Hey, what are you doing?"

At first Kate thought she was hearing things. She had to be, right?

Castle wouldn't-

No, actually, he would.

"Napping?" he continued once Kate had opened her eyes. "Cause I can come back later."

"Castle, what are you doing here? You promised-"

"Yeah, I promised I'd leave. But I didn't promise I wouldn't come back."

She should have known. Of course Castle would find a loophole.

"I got coffee-later-for when you're off that thing."

His manner was so casual, as if it was just another day, another crime scene.

But it wasn't.

"No Castle, please. You have to leave now." As much as his presence calmed her, as glad as she was to see him again when she thought she never would, she wouldn't let him risk his life for her. Not this time. "There's no reason for both of us to die."

"Oh, I didn't come here to die. I came here to defuse the bomb. There's still a chance."

"Yes, a one in 100,000 chance." The stakes had been considerably lower when he'd pulled the wires from the bomb two years ago. It wasn't worth the risk.

"Great. While there's still a chance, I'm not giving up."

Of course he wasn't. She was going to have to appeal the one weakness he had that was greater than herself.

Alexis.

"Castle, listen to me. I've already come to peace with this. And that doesn't include Alexis losing her father." And Alexis wasn't the only one to consider. "Or Martha her son."

"Come on, what am I supposed to do? Walk out the door while you're standing all the way over there by yourself?"

"Yes!" Kate realized she was fighting a losing battle. He wasn't going to leave. But he had to. If not for Alexis and Martha, then for her. She could handle anything if she knew he was going to survive this. "Yes, that's exactly-"

"Wait a second-"

Kate knew that tone. He had stumbled upon something, figured something out.

Was there actually a chance…?

* * *

Kate could hardly believe it. They'd actually done it. They had actually defused the bomb. One in 100,000 chance and they had done it.

"Wait, Castle." She stopped him before he finished crossing the street to where a small crowd was waiting for them. "Listen, thank you for staying with me."

If he hadn't, she wouldn't be here.

"Always."

A half smile formed on Kate's face before she leaned into him to-hear the siren of the red unmarked car that approached.

Gates. Crap. Couldn't they have had just a couple more minutes?

Ryan, almost skipping like a little kid in his relief, went straight to Castle.

"Perfect timing," Castle said and chuckled.

Kate agreed. As much as she wanted some time alone with Castle-okay, some _more_ time alone with Castle, it just wouldn't be the same if they didn't get interrupted.

Esposito was more sedate, walking up with his usual unhurried but confident stride. "You good?"

"Yeah," she assured him as she pulled him into a hug. "Did she see?"

"No," was all Esposito said before pulling away.

Once again, just in time.

"Glad to see you, Detective," Captain Gates said as she approached. "Even you, Mr. Castle. I have to say, I don't know too many men who would've done what you did."

Kate couldn't keep the smile from her lips any more than she could tamp down the glint of affection in her eyes. "Neither do I."

Reminding herself that giving in to the temptation to kiss him this once wasn't worth having him kicked out of the precinct Kate looked away. If she looked into those beautiful blue eyes even half a second longer she wouldn't be able to hold herself back.

"Oh, for heaven's sake, Detective! Just _kiss _the man."

Kate wasn't sure which of them was more shocked: her, Castle, Ryan or Esposito.

"Sir, you know?"

"What? Do you think I'm an idiot? I needed to maintain plausible deniability. Which I can continue as long as you two both act professionally at the precinct."

Gates knew. Gates knew and she was letting him stay.

That outcome had to have had even greater odds than Kate and Castle defusing the bomb. One in one hundred million, at least.

"I know _I _can, but Captain, she has a long history of coming on to me at work-"

At another time Kate may have been at least irritated at him suggesting such a thing. But he had a right to use his defense mechanism after what they had just been through.

"I don't think it will be a problem, Sir," was all she said.

"Good. Meanwhile, as long as we're on neutral ground here I'd say, uh, he deserves it, wouldn't you?"

Kate almost laughed. The woman was actually encouraging her to kiss Castle. But she couldn't disagree. At the very least he deserved a kiss. "Yes Sir, I would."

For once Castle's smug grin didn't bother her. Especially since there was also humor dancing in his eyes. Kate turned to him and put her hands on his shoulders, ready to give him the crème d le crème of all kisses.

Which reminded her of what had been on her mind before he had returned to the room, what she had wanted to be the last thing on her mind when she thought she was never going to see him again.

And she wanted to tell him. Sharing things with Castle was still something she was continuing to learn to get more comfortable doing. But this was something she wanted him to know.

"You know, Castle, when I was standing up there I kept thinking about all the times we've kissed. And I was trying to decide on the best one."

"And what do you think?"

"I think we're just getting started."

* * *

**So are any of you thinking I'm just going to write 'novelized' versions of my favorite scenes? Not that there is anything wrong with that, but no. Instead, I'm going to write a series of short stories (there possibly might be some one-shots, too; it depends on my muse that can be a very fickle creature at times; originally THIS was going to be a one-shot). "Hollywood Heat," the story mentioned in the title of this collection, is the one I'm going to be writing next. I've been hesitating to write this one because it's going to get, um, weird. REALLY weird. But I needed to write it to get over what I know about the last three episodes of season 5 (and I haven't even watched the last two except for the last scene of 'Watershed'; I'm waiting until the night 6x01 airs-so in my fantasy world 'Still's is my season finale.) You could call it crossover/crack/romance/angst and maybe parody or humor. And since I'm not completely known for writing 'normal stories' anyway…. Let's just say, I need to add an additional disclaimer:**

**Disclaimer #2: I do not own the show Phineas & Ferb. That would be Disney. I did not come up with the concept of Dr. Doofenshmirtz , Perry the Platypus (aka Agent P) or Dr. D's many 'inator' inventions. Although I will be creating one for this story….**

**Now, on to deal with the last three episodes of season 5 in a very unique way….**


	2. The Ridiculous Idea Chapter 2

**I promised purplangel that I would say which episode each chapter would focus on in this series of stories. This one is not based on any particular episode, but inspired by all of the episodes of Phineas & Ferb I've ever seen (which is probably 75% of all that have aired so far; yep, I love this cartoon-not as much as Castle, though; that would be impossible **** ). There isn't any Castle stuff in it but it gives you the background so you understand what is going to happen in the next chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Phineas & Ferb. If I did, Phineas would find out that Isabella has a crush on him. I guess you could call it my mini-ship. Because I am completely content to wait (in contrast to the two Castle hiatus' I suffered through). I just hope it happens before the show ends. Oh, and these kids are all ten years old. And although most of the episodes occur in the summer I have this occur in late April, since that is when 'Still' aired. So we'll say the kids have the day off from school for some unknown reason. And high school proms occur in May, right? If not, let's just pretend they do for this chapter, okay?**

* * *

'Whatcha doin'?'

The sweet, high-pitched voice of ten-year-old Isabella, next door neighbor and the only girl in the close-knit group of his human, Phineas, startled Perry the Platypus awake. The semiaquatic mammal glanced up at the sun and noticed that it was higher in the sky than he had expected. He had overslept, something he rarely did. But his arch-nemesis, Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz, had gotten a late start on his latest 'inator invention, which had caused their daily skirmish to take place hours later than it should have. Perry hadn't really paid attention when the scientist started his long-winded explanation as to why.

"Oh, hey Isabella," Phineas greeted his friend with a smile. "Ferb and I haven't decided what we're going to do today yet. We stayed up to watch the Chompmonster Marathon and just got up a little while ago."

"Hey, I love that guy!" Buford, the tough guy of the bunch, approached them with Baljeet in a headlock. "He's my idol."

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Baljeet muttered.

"Don't knock the Chompmonster!" Buford said, letting go of the smaller boy and putting his hands on his hips. "In 'The Chompmoster Takes Over The Tri-State Area' he was able to turn everybody into mindless drones. In three states, I'm telling you! Not even Phineas and Ferb could do that!"

"Well, we could," Phineas' tone was hesitant.

"No!" Baljeet cried.

"Don't worry, Baljeet; we're kids, not evil geniuses," Phineas assured him.

"There's no point in taking over three states," Ferb said. "The other 47 states would work together and easily put such a person in jail. A true evil genius would try to take over the world."

"The Chompmonster did that, too," Buford said, his arms crossed, glaring at Ferb. "In the sequel, 'The Chompmoster Rules The World.' It just came out last week. I snuck into the midnight show."

Perry decided he needed to pay closer attention when the boys watched one of those movies. They sounded like something Doofenshmirtz would get 'inator ideas from.

"I know what we're going to do today!" Phineas suddenly declared.

Before Perry could find out what his human's latest idea was, the watch around his wrist beeped, calling him to the secret lair for his daily meeting with Major Monogram of the O.W.C.A.

After a quick look around to make sure the kids were all too distracted to notice his departure, Perry stood on his back legs, placed his small brown hat on his head and quickly scurried to the fence at the edge of the yard. With a quick tap of the correct board the piece of wood tilted to reveal a hole in the ground just large enough for Perry. After another quick look around the platypus jumped. For a few seconds he was in free fall until he hit a small pool of water. Using his back feet for speed and his beaver-like tail to keep him going in the right direction, Perry started swimming. He finally reached the roof of the lair and pressed a button. A small portion of the roof gave way and Perry fell, landing right in his chair. Unfortunately, the roof didn't fill in right away so a rush of water came down with him. Perry was gasping by the time the water harmlessly hit the floor, covering it by less than half an inch. He had been under water for just over two minutes and a platypus could only hold his breath for that long. Sometimes he thought Major Monogram forgot that he was only _semi_aquatic.

"Sorry about that, Agent P," Monogram's face dominated the large screen in front of Perry. "We're still working the bugs out of that one."

Perry gave his irritated chatter growl in response. He may be a highly skilled secret agent but he was still a platypus. Using human words was beyond his capabilities.

"I told you it would keep him underwater for too long, Sir," said Carl, one of the many unpaid interns at the O.W.C.A and Major Monogram's personal assistant.

"Quiet, Carl!" Major Monogram ordered. "We've just received word that Dr. Doofenshmirtz has been buying up all of the copies of this month's issue of 'Teen Magazine.' And all of the prom dresses at the town mall. We're not sure what he's up to, but we know it's no good. So get out there and put a stop to it."

With a quick salute Perry headed over to his personal mini-flying race car and zoomed off.

* * *

In mere minutes Perry arrived at Dr. Doofenshmirtz headquarters. He quickly entered the lair through the window Doofenshmirtz had left open-to keep Perry from breaking through _another_ wall because the cost of repairs was getting atrocious, the scientist had informed him during yesterday's battle. He had barely jumped out of his car when a heart-shaped cupcake landed on top of him. Cherry flavored, Perry noticed. The confection came up to his neck, so the secret agent didn't have to worry about being able to breathe. As many times as Doofenshmirtz had trapped him, he very rarely tried to kill him. Perry was certain that the scientist would have been heartbroken if he had ever actually succeeded in one of those rare attempts. Steel bands shot out from the sides of the cupcake, pining his arms in place.

"Ah, Perry the Platypus, how nice of you to join me," Dr. Doofenshmirtz said as he watched Perry struggle to get free. "You're just in time to witness the power of my latest invention. Behold!" With a swift yank the scientist pulled the sheet off of his latest 'inator. As were most of the things Dr. Doofenshmirtz created, it was gray and shaped like a drill. Except that it was approximately ten feet tall. And, Perry knew, would shoot a bright colored laser at whatever current target his nemesis had in mind. "The Break-Up-inator!"

Creative with names Dr. Doofenshmirtz was not.

"Why a Break-up-inator, you may ask?" Perry hadn't, but that didn't stop Dr. Doofenshmirtz. This was the part Perry had to pay attention to, though. It would let him know the intended target and what to expect if the laser hit him. That happened far more often than it should. "Well, I'll tell you. Back in high school I was something of well, a geek. I know, I know, shocking, isn't it? None of the girls wanted to go with me to my senior prom. I asked every girl in the school, Perry the Platypus, every girl. Even the freshman class, and who takes a freshman girl to a senior prom, I ask you? And it got me thinking. The Danville High School prom is coming up this next month. You may wonder how I know that, but my daughter Vanessa-you remember her, Perry the Platypus?-mentioned it when she was here yesterday. It's why I got started late on my 'inator, as I already told you, because she unexpectedly stopped by. Anyway, I got to thinking. Teenage relationships never last anyway. So I decided to create the Break-Up-Inator. That way, everyone will be too miserable to think about going to _prom_. I'm doing them a favor, really."

Perry blinked. Dr. Doofenshmirtz had known Perry long enough to know what he was thinking. Or at least to _think _he knew what he was thinking.

"I know what you're thinking. Why take the 'Teen Magazines?' Have you ever _read _those, Perry the Platypus? The advice in those things is _horrible_! No wonder teenage romance never lasts! And the dresses? Well, that was for Vanessa, to make up for ruining her prom. What teenage girl doesn't love getting a new wardrobe, I ask you?"

Perry chatter growled in warning but of course was ignored.

"And now, to unleash the Break-Up-Inator!"

At just that moment Perry was able to find the weakness in the steel bands that trapped him. With a yank he was able to break them apart. Dr. Doofenshmirtz had just pushed the button when Perry hit the machine at full speed, causing the green ray to shoot straight up.

It took less than a minute to defeat his nemesis and destroy his latest 'inator. His work done for the day, Perry leapt back into his flying car and zoomed away, just able to faintly hear Dr. Doofenshmirtz' s shout of, "Curse you, Perry the Platypus!"

Perry just hoped that the one ray that had been fired hadn't hit anything important….

* * *

Hundreds of thousands of miles above Perry the green ray hit an orbiting satellite, bounced off of the structure and headed straight for New York City….

* * *

**I don't know enough about astronomy and other scientific related stuff to know if the ray would actually bounce off a satellite like that, but that kind of thing happens in Phineas & Ferb all the time. Just so you know.**


	3. The Ridculous Idea Chapter 3

**Okay, you guys can relax: Caskett is back. **** Dr. Doof & Perry will be in this at least one more time but it will largely be Caskett from here on out. I would have put it in the crossover fic section but since I wanted to try this Ficathon thing, I decided to just leave it here. **

**Sorry, purplangel, I almost forgot: 'Still' and 'The Squab & The Quail' are the inspiration behind this chapter.**

**I thought I would be able to get this story done this weekend but it's running a bit longer than I expected. So there's going to be at least one more chapter, maybe two. Then, if my muse cooperates, I'll be working on Hollywood Heat. IF my muse cooperates. It's been gravitating towards my Moonlighting Curse story idea lately (don't worry, there might not even be ANYTHING from Moonlighting in that one; it would be more like my crack fic 'The Ultimate Castle Monday'). So I'm just going to have to see how it goes. But I'm really excited about the Hollywood Heat idea, so that story WILL be written at some point.**

**Disclaimer: Although ABC is owned by Disney, I REALLY don't see there being an episode where Phineas & Ferb will be on Castle. So, yeah, I don't own it.**

* * *

"You really would do anything for me, wouldn't you?" Kate said to Castle as they pulled up to the precinct for the debriefing on the case. The ride from the crime scene had been made in relative silence and Kate had spent that time mulling over how deeply he loved her and how truly committed to her he was. If any doubt had been lingering in Kate's mind it was obliterated by his instance that if there was even one in 100,000 chance of saving her, he wasn't leaving, even though she was standing directly over a bomb that had been set to go off in mere minutes. She wasn't sure he would have left even if there hadn't been any chance at all.

"Of course," Castle replied, obviously puzzled that she would even need to ask.

Kate would have kissed him again but they were too close to the precinct. And although Gates was willing to maintain 'plausible deniability' she didn't want to push it. Instead she took his hand in hers and gave it a brief squeeze before letting go and getting out of the car.

She had only taken a few steps when she felt it. At first she thought it was a bullet because of the force and speed in which it struck the middle of her back. She stumbled but Castle's quick reflexes kept her from falling. Leaning against him, Castle's hands firmly gripping her arms, Kate waited for the pain to come. Except it never did.

Not a bullet then.

"Did you see it?" Kate asked.

"See what?"

"Whatever hit me."

Castle's eyes widened in surprise. "Something hit you? Where?"

"The middle of my back."

Castle quickly turned her and lifted the back of her shirt. "I don't see anything," he said after a few seconds. His fingers lightly ran over her bare skin in a quick but thorough search. She didn't feel any pain or tenderness, just the usual tingles that she experienced whenever any part of her skin came in direct contact with Castle's hands. "It doesn't feel like you have any bumps or welts. We should take you down to Lanie."

Kate nodded her agreement and turned back to Castle. "But what was it?" She scanned her immediate surroundings but could find nothing out of the ordinary. Castle's frustrated expression told her he hadn't found anything, either.

Kate braced herself for one of Castle's outlandish theories but it never came. All he said was, "I don't know, but we need to find out."

* * *

"I don't know what to tell you, girl," Lanie said two hours later after having run various medical tests on her friend. "All of the tests came up negative. I've never heard of anything that feels like a bullet but doesn't penetrate the skin. All I can tell you is to keep an eye out for anything unusual. And you might want to take it easy for a couple days."

"Gates already told me to take a couple days off," Kate said.

"Then the only thing I can say is go home and get some rest. And give me a call if you have any nausea, dizziness, ect; you know the drill."

Kate did; she had learned a lot about medical procedures after getting shot.

"Take care of her, Castle," Lanie said as the couple made their way out the door a minute later.

Kate rolled her eyes but didn't bother to tell them she was a grown woman and could look after herself; neither of them would listen to her.

"Of course," Castle said, taking Kate's hand in his.

"Bye, Lanie," Kate said at the same time.

They were both tense during the drive back to the loft, waiting for something, anything, out of the ordinary. Anything that would let them know what had happened.

By the time Castle opened the door to his bedroom all Kate wanted to do was sleep. But they both knew that could just be the stress of spending hours standing directly over a bomb.

Castle didn't protest when Kate said she just wanted to go to bed, although he warned her that he would wake her up every few hours to check on her. Muttering that she didn't have any signs of a concussion-the object hadn't even struck her on the head-Kate went to put on her favorite sleeping attire-one of Castle's shirts and a pair of her cotton shorts.

As soon as she got into bed, she snuggled up to Castle in their usual position, her head on his chest, his arm around her waist, his hand resting on her hip.

Kate decided against telling him that finally, something didn't feel right. Because instead of feeling relaxed and at peace as she usually did, she felt suffocated and restless.

But it didn't make any sense. They had slept this way countless times over the last year and she'd never felt like this.

Hoping it would just go away, Kate decided to ignore it and force herself to get some desperately needed sleep.

* * *

_What was she doing?_

Kate had been in the middle of getting ready for bed when dropped her toothbrush and shimmed-shimmied, for crying out loud-to the edge of the doorway before she even realized what was happening.

She was completely baffled at her behavior. She had never _shimmied _a day in her life.

Until now, apparently.

Feeling ridiculous, Kate decided she was going to stop before Castle saw what she was doing.

Except she couldn't. She tried to get her legs to stop moving but they just kept going as if she _wanted _to be acting like this.

'Cause I got something special for you," Castle said to the TV, completely engrossed in the video game he was playing.

Against her will, Kate's legs took her to the doorway where she involuntarily spun so that she was facing away from Castle. "And I've got something special for you," she looked over at him as she slid down the shirt she was wearing, baring a shoulder, "too."

Kate would cringe if she could. She was acting like some empty-headed bimbo. No, worse. A porn star. An exceptionally bad one.

But she couldn't stop.

Why couldn't she stop?

"Well, that's not looking too good."

Kate was startled out of her performance. And she couldn't be more grateful for it.

Except that the words that came out of her mouth were annoyed. "What? Castle!"

Castle held up a hand before explaining that he wasn't talking to her but a kid from India that he had been trying to defeat on the video game for weeks.

Kate tried opened her mouth to try to tell him that something was seriously wrong. Except she couldn't get her mouth to move. Maybe something hadn't hit her just outside the precinct a few days ago. Maybe it had been something internal, some serious health condition that was only now starting to manifest itself. But if it had been something like that, Lanie would have caught it.

Wouldn't she?

She tried again, with the same results.

"Would you rather play with a kid, in an imaginary world?" Oh no, she could feel it coming on again; the bimbo/porn star was back. "Or in the real world," her voice was breathy and her hands made their way slowly down her sides, emphasizing her figure, before making their way back up, her hands tangling in her hair.

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get her arms to move. Until Castle looked back and forth between her and his game repeatedly, being able to say nothing other than, "I…I…I…uh…"

Okay, Kate had to admit she was a little bit hurt that he was struggling to decide between his video game and her. But not nearly as much as her stunned, "You actually have to think about this!" made it seem.

She was actually kind of glad. Because that meant that Castle may not have noticed how much of an idiot she had been making of herself.

Kate tried to let Castle know that something was off. But each time she tried to open her mouth to explain to him, it remained firmly closed. She decided to tell him by writing it down, but she couldn't get her legs to move to take her over to his laptop and her hands refused to move.

In contrast to the previous few nights, Kate wanted to be in Castle's arms. But as hard as she tried to fight it, her body turned away from him. There had to be a foot of space between them.

If she could have gotten her eyes to cooperate, Kate was sure she would have cried.

It was an odd sensation, wanting to cry and not being able to. Usually she had to hold feelings back, not try to force them out.

There was one part of this that was all too familiar, although she hadn't dealt with it for almost a year. She wanted to reach out to Castle, ask for his help, tell him what she was thinking and feeling but something stopped her. Back then, it had been fear, uncertainty, worry that if she acted too soon the whole thing could blow up in their faces. Even a niggling fear that, despite all the evidence, he didn't really want her.

This time, as much as she wanted to reach out to Castle, she literally couldn't.

* * *

**In case anyone is confused, Kate was hit by the ray that shot out of Dr. Doofenshmirtz's Break-Up-Inator. I'm just guessing what being hit by a ray would feel like. And there are no medical explanations because there usually aren't on Phineas & Ferb. THAT'S why Phineas & Ferb is part of this story. Just to clarify.**


	4. The Ridiculous Idea Chapter 4

**This chapter is even longer than I thought it would be. I debated just adding the last part here but considering it will probably be at least another 2,000 words, I decided to break the chapters into two. So just one more chapter to go…. 'The Squab & The Quail' are still being used for this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Castle, NONE of the stuff I use for this chapter would have happened. NONE of it!**

* * *

Kate had a lot of time to think about things because apparently she was giving Castle the silent treatment. It was driving her crazy. Not just because she couldn't say what she wanted to but because it was an extreme overreaction to Castle acting like any guy did, at least every once in a while, once he felt secure in a relationship. And Kate _wanted _him to feel secure in their relationship. She had no intention of going anywhere and the last thing she wanted was for her actions to make it seem like he was just one mistake away from her emotionally kicking him in the teeth in her scramble to get as far away from him as she could.

Castle had fallen silent himself by the time he went to go call a cab. Kate had almost requested some personal time off. Or, she had thought about it, at least. She wasn't sure how far this inability to control her words and actions went. But she had quickly dismissed the idea. Just because she couldn't talk to Castle didn't necessarily mean she couldn't talk to Lanie. Or the boys. Or, if there was no other alternative, Captain Gates.

Yes, she was getting _that _desperate.

Kate didn't like being out of control. But that had to do with her interactions with the people around her and the circumstances she found herself in. It had never occurred to her to worry about not being able to control _herself_.

It faintly reminded Kate of when she got shot, that inability to move or speak, and triggered a wave of anxiety. She'd had a pretty good grip on her PTSD this last year but this might be enough to push her over the edge.

And she may not be able to do anything about it. Or let anyone know that something was wrong. She couldn't now; why would having a panic attack change that?

Although Castle had been able to startle her out of her ridiculous attempt at seduction the night before. Maybe extreme emotion was what it would take to snap her out of whatever this was….

* * *

Really? She was getting upset because he didn't have her on his list? How ridiculous was all of this going to get? Because a person _never _had people they actually knew on that sort of thing. That was the whole point. She hadn't had Castle on her list, either. Well, after she met him. Before that, he had been the first one she thought of when she'd overheard Ryan and Esposito talking about their own lists. Now that she thought about it, that had only been a couple months before she met Castle.

Erik Vaughn had been on her list, too. At number five. Behind George Lucas, Joe Torres, the baseball player Castle had introduced her to, and the Queen of England.

Kate inwardly cringed when she made the 'Things you notice when you're paying attention' comment. It was almost as bad as the blatant way she was checking out the billionaire inventor.

And why was she doing that? The _only_ thing the man had on Castle was that he made five times as much money as Castle did.

So he was cute. Sort of. Honestly, Castle was light years ahead of him in that department.

And he had an accent. If she was going to drool over any British accent, it would have been the one belonging to Inspector Colin Hunt.

Kate had to admit the guy was brilliant, and she did admire that. But no more than she admired Castle's intellect. It may not have been in the same areas, but what Castle was competent in-building theory, getting into the mind of a killer, basic human nature-were what mattered to her more than any business savvy.

Most importantly of all, there was just something off about Erik Vaughn. Kate couldn't put her finger on it, but the man made her uneasy, and not in a good way.

Not that Castle would be able to pick up on any of that.

When Lanie called them down to the morgue, Kate tried to tell her friend the peculiar side effects she was dealing with. But as it had with Castle, her mouth remained firmly closed.

Until Lanie started gushing about Vaughn.

"See Castle? He's on everybody's list," she said.

_Stop talking, Kate! Just please stop talking!_ Kate silently ordered herself.

"Yes, yes, he's quite impressive," Castle said, his tone showing that he was poking fun at their gushing over the other man.

"And handsome," Kate added.

_Seriously? Just SHUT UP!_

Of course Kate's stern internal dialogue continued to have no external impact.

"And don't forget rich," Lanie said. "And that _accent_!"

"Oh, I know!"

"All right!" The last word ended on a squeak and Castle quickly cleared his throat before saying, "I admit, all right, just as lesser men inspire to be me, he's who the ME's of the world aspire to be."

_Oh, Castle._

Kate wished she could just _stop_! It was like she was determined to do whatever she could to hurt Castle. But what he didn't know, because she couldn't _tell _him, was that his pain was hurting her, too.

Kate realized that she was right about Vaughn when she and Castle were in Gates office a short time later.

"Beckett's going to the Fairwyck hotel," the other woman informed them.

"What's at the Fairwyck?" Castle asked Kate.

Kate had a sneaking suspicion she knew.

"Erik Vaughn," Gates said. "As long as we have a killer running around, I need him somewhere safe. So he booked the presidential suite and from now until the time we catch whoever's behind all this, you're staying there with him. "

"In the presidential suite?" Castle gave Kate a pointed look.

Thankful, and somewhat amazed that she was able to do so, Kate said, "Sir, are you serious? You want me to babysit this guy?"

"He's insisting," Gates replied. "Apparently, you made quite an impression."

Kate knew that no matter what she said, her boss was not going to change her mind. In some ways it reminded her of when she was forced to allow Castle to shadow her. What _was _it with guys thinking they could buy their way into her bed?

Although she knew such thoughts weren't fair to Castle. He hadn't gone nearly as far as Vaughn had already. Other than following her for inspiration for Nikki Heat, Castle had, for the most part, respected her decision to _not _be with him. They'd been together on the job for almost three years before they shared a hotel suite, and despite the temptation of the situation, he'd done nothing more than harmless flirting, and relatively mild flirting at that. And he had been in love with her by then, and she with him. Not that either of them knew how the other felt at the time.

"You know, it's one thing to follow him around," Castle said after they were out of Gates office, him sitting in his chair and she standing by her desk, "but quite another to be shaking up with him."

Okay, that was not fair. Even without whatever weird thing she was dealing with that kept her making bad choices in her interactions with Castle, she would have had to agree to this. Professionally, she didn't have a choice. Couldn't he see that?

"Castle, I am not shacking up with him." For whatever reason Kate was able to say what she was really thinking. It was a refreshing change but she didn't hold too high a hope that it would last. "I'm just doing my job."

"Right."

Kate's eyes narrowed in irritation. "You don't trust me."

How could he not trust her? After everything they'd been through together, how could he possibly think-

Her stomach twisted in revulsion as she realized. Based on her outward actions of the last few hours, he might have reason to distrust her. And if Vaughn did push things, would she be able to say no? Not because she was tempted, but because of this strange inability to control herself that she'd been dealing with for the last few days.

Kate forced herself to push those thoughts out of her mind. She couldn't deal with horrible 'what ifs' on top of everything else.

"Oh, of course I trust you," Castle said, his tone belying his words.

"No, you don't." Whatever her recent actions may have told him, it still hurt that he wouldn't trust her. "That's what this is all about. Otherwise this wouldn't be an issue."

Vaughn arrived before Castle could reply.

Kate tried to reason with Vaughn, to convince him that she would be able to help him more if she could work on catching his killer. Naturally, it didn't work. The man just listed her professional credentials and asked her if she knew how 'remarkable' she was.

She wasn't amazing. She was extraordinary.

And yes, she did know.

Kate would have ground her teeth together in frustration if she could have when she wasn't able to respond. Whatever he saw on her face made Vaughn asked in soft surprise, "You don't, do you?"

Maybe Vaughn did manipulate events for her to be the one to be his personal bodyguard because he thought she was the best person for the job. But Kate still had her doubts that it was his only reason.

Her doubts were justified when they were in the suite a little over an hour later.

When he asked if she was with Castle, Kate was relieved when she was able to confirm that she was. With the way things had been going lately, she may have been forced to lie.

"Is it serious?" Vaughn asked next.

_YES!_

The word was shouted in her head but it took her a moment to get the word out and it had a hesitance in it that she knew shouldn't have been there. While it was true that she still occasionally struggled with insecurities where her relationship with Castle was concerned, whether or not they were 'serious' was no longer an issue. Truthfully, it hadn't been an issue since she hung from that rooftop almost a year ago now, wanting nothing more than Castle. In many ways, even long before that. So long ago, in fact, that she wasn't sure when she realized how serious he was about her. Possibly when he told her he loved her while she was bleeding out from a gunshot wound. As for Kate, any doubts about wanting to be with Castle, when she was ready, were gone before she left her dad's cabin and returned to New York.

"But the truth is you don't really know," Vaughn said, taking first one step towards her, then another. "Otherwise you wouldn't have hesitated."

No, she _hesitated_ because she couldn't get her stupid mouth cooperate and say the word as adamantly as she shouted it in her head.

"No, it's just-we've never really talked about it that's all," she admitted.

Kate wanted to scream. So they never talked about it. So what? She was more of a woman of action, anyway. Just because she'd only recently told Castle she loved him didn't mean that the feelings were new. She'd known she loved Castle since he'd kissed her so they could save Ryan and Esposito from a trained killer. And she'd suspected that she was falling in love with him months before that, when she'd decided to take a chance and accept his offer to spend the weekend with him in the Hamptons. Her suspicions had been strong enough to break up with Tom Demming, who had been a great guy. But when she'd known she wanted to spend the weekend with Castle more than she wanted to go away with Tom, she had ended it.

And that was only the tip of the iceberg of what they hadn't talked about. Not talking about it didn't mean squat, not with them.

Although once she regained full control of her words and actions, she decided that they were going to work on that. These insecurities and assumptions, justifiable or not, had to stop.

"Why not?" Vaughn asked.

That was a good question. She just wasn't sure she had a good answer.

"Just haven't," was all she could say.

"Then he's a fool."

"No." If he was, then so was she. And maybe they were. But she knew that wasn't what Vaughn meant. "It's just-it's complicated."

"Kate, there's nothing complicated about meeting a woman like you, knowing what to do."

That didn't sound good.

If she could have, Kate would have shoved him, backed away, yelled at him, _something._ But as he leaned towards her all she could do was lean towards him in return.

Nausea hit her stomach and bile rose to choke her. Maybe she would be able to throw up in his face. That would certainly stop him. And it would make a great story to tell Castle. Maybe it would make up for the terrible way she had been acting lately.

Feeling his lips on hers was one of the worst sensations she had ever experienced. Not only did it feel horribly wrong, but it broke her heart that she might not be able to stop herself from cheating on Castle.

_Come on, come on, throw up already!_

But although the nausea still rolled in her stomach and bile was caught in her throat, that was where it stayed.

Kate wanted to weep with relief when she was able to let out a soft, "No," and make a weak attempt to push him away. She would have preferred to scream at him to get away from her, even though she would never act like that under normal circumstances, and shove him hard enough that it would send him flying halfway across the room. But she would take what she could get.

When she heard the shot-_why _hadn't she thought to board up the windows?-she tackled him to the ground, only feeling a small twinge of guilt at her relief.

Her relief intensified when Castle showed up only minutes after CSU.

Until Ryan's first question for her official statement. "Where were you standing when the first shot came?"

Kate reluctantly walked over to spot. "Um, it was right over here."

"Okay," Ryan said and made a note in his small tablet. "And where was Vaughn?"

The question she had been dreading. Since she hadn't thrown up all over the guy, Kate had hoped Castle wouldn't need to find out. At least, not until things returned to normal.

"Right there," Kate pointed.

"Right," Ryan walked over to where she pointed, giving a start at how close they were, "here."

"Why was he standing so close?" Castle asked. "I don't understand. If he was standing right there," Castle followed the trajectory of the bullet, "the bullet would have went right through his head. How did he miss?"

Kate debated admitting it. But now really didn't feel like the right time.

"Before the first shot, Vaughn stumbled."

Castle didn't buy it. "Stumbled? Kids and old people stumble. How did he stumble?"

"I don't know." Kate shrugged. "He just did."

_Please, just let it go, Castle. For now, for me, please._

At least Ryan wasn't questioning it.

"So…he ate the wrong entrée, and avoided being poisoned. And then he stumbled at just the right moment to avoid being shot by an assassin." He pondered it for a moment before saying, "No one is that lucky. What's going on here, Kate?"

Nope, he wasn't going to let it go. And she couldn't entirely blame him. She just wished they did have to do this now, when she wasn't sure what she would be able to say and when she would be forced to clam up.

"He kissed me. Okay, Castle?"

Kate hated the expression on Castle's face. Was he mad at her, or at Vaughn? He had a right to be mad at her, considering how it looked. If she could just _explain_! She never would have let Vaughn get that close if she'd been able to stop it. The whole thing had made her sick.

Literally.

After Ryan made a less than graceful exit to give them a moment alone, Kate tried once again to tell him what was really going on. It didn't work.

She was going to have to tell him. Just enough to make things look really, really bad. So much worse than they actually were.

"Look, I'm not going to lie to you." _Any more than I've already tried to. _"We were talking about you, we were talking about relationships-" _Things I should have been talking to you about. _"And he kissed me." She decided to not tell him how much she was forced to participate. There was no reason to make things even worse. "But it didn't mean anything." _Yeah, less than nothing._ "At least not to me."

Kate was a little surprised she could say this much. Did that mean that whatever kept her form saying and doing what she wanted to was weakening?

She could only hope.

"Well, if he kissed you, why wouldn't you just push him away?"

Kate just gave him her 'Are you kidding me?' look and waited for him to put the pieces together.

It didn't take long.

"Oh." Castle looked down to where she had indicated Vaughn had been standing and back up at her. "Which is why he's not dead."

Yeah. Vaughn. The case.

That's when it occurred to her. Whatever was going on, it hadn't affected her ability to do her job. Instead, it seemed to be focused on one goal: Destroying her relationship with Castle.


	5. The Ridiculous Idea Chapter 5

**Okay, I was wrong. Major Monogram and Perry will be in this chapter, but not Dr. Doofenshmirtz, although he will be mentioned. But don't worry-the focus of this chapter is Caskett. **

**The last three episodes of season five are used, in some form or another, in this chapter. Purplangel, did you want me to mention that in every chapter of every story of this collection? Or just for this one?**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Castle, there would have been no job offer in DC to begin with. Hopefully it's a good thing I don't own it….In Marlowe I trust….In Marlowe I trust….In Marlowe I'm really TRYING to trust….**

**Disclaimer #2: If I owned Phineas & Ferb, Phineas would know that Isabella has a crush on him. And the kids would find out about, and remember, that Perry is a secret agent and all the kids would become fellow secret agents. At least for an episode. Although I guess that sort of happened already in the last movie, except for the remembering part….**

* * *

"Oh, there you are, Perry."

Phineas' usual greeting after he had arrived back from destroying Dr. Doofenshmirtz's latest 'inator had barely reached the platypus when he heard his watch beep. Why was Major Monogram trying to contact him _after _his latest battle with his nemesis? With a brief glance at Phineas to make sure the boy hadn't heard the small sound, Perry gave his usual guttural chatter in response. It was platypus speak for, "If you only knew what I did today" and "It's nice to be home."

Except it looked like he wouldn't be able to stay home for long.

It took a while for him to be able to slip away. Perry finally curled up in his bed and pretended to fall asleep. As soon as Phineas and Ferb had gone into the kitchen with the other kids for the snack the boys' mother had promised, Perry pushed the button under the blanket he slept on. Instantly the bed flipped and Perry slid down the clear tube straight into his secret lair. It was the most direct of all of his routes but because it was most easily spotted, he rarely used it.

"Oh, there you are, Agent P," Major Monogram's image was already on the screen as Perry dropped into his chair. "Sorry to call you during your off hours but we received word that a ray one of Dr. Doofenshmirtz 's creations hit a member of the NYPD."

Perry's eyes widened in shock. New York City was hundreds of miles away from Danville. How could a ray have possibly hit-?

"Apparently a ray hit a satellite and ricocheted to New York City," Major Monogram answered Perry's unasked question. "We would have picked up on it sooner but the effects of whatever it was Doofenshmirtz created were only internal. It's taken us days to run the distance scanner on this many of the officers in New York City. It's a good thing she's from the 12th precinct. We were going numerically. It could have taken months."

Perry shuddered. The damage that one of the inventor's 'inators could do if left unchecked for months was too terrible to contemplate.

When his supervisor gave him the date that one Detective Kate Beckett had been hit, Perry knew exactly which 'inator the ray had come from.

"We need you convince Dr. Doofenshmirtz to create another of those machines. They usually have a 'reverse' switch on them, don't they?"

Perry nodded. That, and a self-destruct button that might come in handy.

"We will need you to go to New York, Agent P," Major Monogram informed him. "Only you know how the 'inators work and only you have the ability to travel through New York unseen. No one else can know about this. It would throw things into chaos if the general public found out about the O.W.C.A. animal secret agent program."

Perry couldn't argue with that. He remembered all too well how his human, Phineas, had reacted when he'd found out his pet platypus was really a secret agent. Perry had never seen the boy so mad. But then the O.W.C.A. had wiped the kids' memory of the incident. So things had gone back to normal. Perry still wasn't sure if that was a good thing. The kids would make great secret agents, even as young as they were. Technically, they were all years older than he was. But humans grew to maturity a lot slower than a platypus did. And Perry suspected that most humans wouldn't be as accepting of a platypus secret agent as he knew Phineas would have been. Eventually.

But a Break-Up-Inator, or any of Doofenshmirtz inventions, was a different story. Perry needed to get to Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated, the scientist's secret lair, before it was too late.

Who knew what damage had already been done?

* * *

A job? Seriously? _That _was what was going to destroy them?

Although it was a job she had absolutely no interest in, her strange condition forced Kate to go after it like nothing else mattered. Least of all Castle.

What a load of crap!

She wouldn't lie. Well, not to herself, at least. She seemed to be unable to do anything but lie to Castle lately.

The job was an amazing opportunity. It was an honor to be selected. But it was an opportunity, an honor, she didn't want. One she had never wanted. Some people might look down on her for that but she didn't care.

Kate was perfectly happy where she was. She found purpose in bringing closure to families who had lost loved ones in unexpected, horrible ways. Purpose in bringing killers to justice. And she couldn't deny the adrenaline rush of tackling with suspects in interrogation, a psychological dance that never grew old. Adding Castle to the mix brought an element of fun she would have never thought possible in her line of work.

Castle.

What must he be thinking right now?

Less than a year ago she had shown up, drenched from her long trudge in the rain, wanting nothing more than his forgiveness, his love, _him_.

So, what? Now she had gone from 'I just want you' to 'I just want the job?'

How did that make any sense? How could he not see that something was seriously, desperately wrong? That this wasn't _her_?

And yet, how could he see it? When every word, every action, told him that he no longer mattered.

When she was yelling at him for legitimate questions? When she was lying to him at every turn? When she was sneaking off like a grounded teenager for an interview that meant less than nothing to her?

Worst of all she used the 'my life, my choice' argument again. That had carried more weight when he had made a deal behind her back with some stranger, trusting a voice on the phone more than he trusted her. Back when thoughts of 'them' were hopes and dreams, not a cemented reality. Saying it now was heartless and cruel. Not to mention, wrong. Because it wasn't just her life anymore. It was _their _life.

She had said 'I think we're just getting started.' And she'd meant it.

She _still _meant it.

But because of this situation she'd found herself in, she may never be able to let him know the truth.

* * *

Perry had been hiding just outside the 12th precinct, waiting. This 'inator, unlike most, was small enough to fit under his hat. The platypus took another look at the picture Agent Monogram had faxed over. She was pretty, for a human. He had looked intently at every woman that had come out of the building for the last two hours. None of them had been her.

Perry was debating the accuracy of the tracking equipment of the O.W.C.A. so far away from Danville-although he'd been as far away as England, so the distance between his home city and New York City shouldn't really matter-when he spotted her.

Everything seemed normal. But Perry knew, better than most, how deceptive appearances could be. And Doofenshmirtz had told him enough about how the Break-Up-Inator worked that Perry knew there weren't likely to be any outward physical signs of what the female detective was going through.

Perry had been a secret agent long enough to know that timing was crucial. Careful to keep himself out of sight, the platypus began to follow Detective Kate Beckett, waiting for the opportunity to finally make things right.

* * *

Castle was sitting on the swing, obviously deep in thought, when she arrived at the park. Kate wished she knew how this was going to go; she wished she had some real say over how this was going to go.

But she didn't.

She felt sick, knowing she was going to take the job. It's what everything in the past few days had led up to. She was going to walk away.

It would help if she could just know _why_. What was causing her to behave like this? What was it that had stolen her ability to make her own choices? What was so determined to come between her and Castle?

He would have helped her, if he had known. He would have stood by her, accepted every hurtful thing she said and did as an effect of this unknown _something_ if she had just been able to tell him. Together, they would have been able to figure it out. They would have been able to defeat this thing.

But she was alone. More alone than she had ever been. Even though Castle was mere feet away when she sat down on the other swing.

"I'm sorry," Kate was finally able to get out. "I shouldn't have kept secrets."

"It's who you are," Castle replied, his tone flat. "You don't let people in. I've had to scratch and claw for every inch."

_No. It's not like that, not anymore._

Kate tried, but wasn't surprised when the words didn't go any further than her mind.

"Castle." Kate wasn't even sure what was going to come out of her mouth now.

Whatever was needed to push him the rest of the way out of her life.

"Just let me finish."

Kate was sure it was a good thing that he interrupted her. Thankfully she was able to remain silent and let him speak.

"I've been doing a lot of thinking about us, about our relationship, what we have, where we're headed."

Kate revised her opinion when he shook his head. Pain squeezed her heart, made it difficult to breathe when he said, "I want more. We both deserve more."

She was wrong. She wasn't going to throw the grenade that would blow up their relationship. He was. She had actually pushed him past whatever "always" could handle.

Kate wanted to scream when, "I agree," came out of her mouth.

She didn't agree. Not with this. Not with walking away, either of them. Not with losing him. She would never agree to that.

"So whatever happens, whatever you decide-"

If only_ she_ was the one making the decision.

"Katherine Houghton Beckett-"

Kate was frozen, this time in shock, not because of her mysterious ailment. Was he really-?

She watched as he got of the swing and slid on to one knee, a diamond ring held between two fingers.

"Will you marry me?"

He was proposing now? Now, when she couldn't do anything about it? Now, after all that she had put him through in the last couple weeks? Now, when whatever came out of her mouth would do irreparable damage?

_NO!_

The word exploded in Kate's mind as she felt something slam into her left leg. The pain pushed her forward. She would have fallen of the swing if she hadn't been gripping the chains that attached the seat to the metal bar overhead.

Utter devastation was the only way Kate could think to describe the look on Castle's face. It was almost as if she had said the word out loud.

It was then that she realized that the word was ringing in her ears.

How could she possibly-

Was it because it would create the most damage? Or-

The pain. In her leg. It felt exactly like the pain in the middle of her back had all those days ago.

Did that mean-

There was only one way to find out.

"Castle, I love you." The words were spoken quickly in her rush to get as much out as she could, if she could, while she could. Kate closed her eyes for a brief moment in relief. But she couldn't get complacent. Just because she had control over herself now, that didn't mean it was going to last. She might be hit by another 'bullet' any second. "I never wanted the job. The 12th is my home. I wish I could explain what has been going on these last few days but I can't. I don't know what made me act like I did. It wasn't me, Castle. I _tried_ so many times to stop what was happening, tell you what was going on." Why did all of this seem like empty excuses when she was _finally _speaking the truth? Maybe if she gave him specifics… "I didn't even want to go that interview. But I couldn't get my legs to cooperate. I haven't been able to get anything to cooperate-my hands, my legs, my feet; it was like something else had taken over. I don't know how I can get you to believe me-"

"I believe you," Castle said, his voice barely above a whisper.

Kate turned to give him a confused look when she saw that he seemed to be in shock.

"Castle, what-?" Kate turned her head in the direction of Castle's gaze and jerked in surprise at what she saw what had Castle so ready to believe her: a platypus with a brown hat on its head, holding what looked like some type of drill. That was strange enough but what made things even more bizarre was that this platypus was a _cartoon_, a three-dimensional cartoon.

Kate's eyes narrowed in a glare at the animal. "Did you just shoot me with that-?"

The blue-green colored creature nodded.

"Did you shoot me with it the last time?"

The creature shook its head.

"But you know who did?"

Again the creature nodded.

Kate waited but the creature just stood there, looking at her. If Kate didn't know better, she would think it was concerned.

Although she _was_ talking to a platypus that seemed to understand what she was saying.

So maybe the platypus was concerned.

"Who?" Kate wasn't going to let whoever had done this get away with it. The technology that had been used was dangerous. Potentially more dangerous than a bomb, if it fell into the wrong person's hands.

The platypus just blinked.

"You're not going to tell me, are you?"

A shake of its head was the only answer she received.

"What are you going to do with it?" Castle asked.

Kate almost scolded him, about to assure him in no uncertain terms that he was _not _going to be using that thing, whatever it was, as a toy. But then she saw the fierce expression on his face and knew he felt the same way she did. They had to make sure that the contraption was destroyed before it became worse than a deadly weapon.

The platypus looked over at Castle, blinked and then pressed its thumb down on the machine. Kate thought it might have pushed a button. Before she could react-since when had Castle gotten faster than her?-Castle spun around so that he was on his knees in front of her, his body blocking hers from any possible attack.

Kate pressed against his back to push him down-after all, she was the cop and should be protecting him- but before she could, the contraption in the small creature's hands exploded in a large ball of blue smoke.

After giving them a thumb's up, the platypus turned and hurried over to a park bench several yards away and-jumped?

Was a platypus a burrowing animal? Kate had no idea but truthfully she really didn't care enough to try to find out. She knew what that 'thumbs' up' had meant. Things were back to normal. Well, as normal as things ever were for them.

After the creature was gone Kate waited. She just _knew _Castle would have something to say about all of this.

His eyes twinkling with their old sparkle, his voice filled with the giddiness she hadn't heard in far too long, Castle said, "Our relationship was saved by a platypus!"

* * *

**That's it for this story. See you guys next time!**


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